Reinforced heel construction for ladies&#39; overshoes



y 15, 1962 G. H. BINGHAM, JR 3,034,232

REINFORCED HEEL CONSTRUCTION FOR LADIES OVERSHOES Filed March 14, 1960 Ziggy:

United States Patent 3,034,232 REWFQRCED HEEL CONSTRUCTION FOR LADES OVERSHQES George H. Bingham, .lra, Westminster, Md,, assignor to Cambridge Rubber Qompany, Taneytown, Md, a cor- {aeration of Maryland Filed Mar. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 14,981 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-73) This invention pertains to footwear and more particularly to improved heel construction designed to prolong the useful life of the heel portion of waterproof overshoes and the like.

Within the past few years shoe stylists have promoted Womens shoes with high French heels which taper downwardly to a tread portion of very small area, for example, of the order of one square centimeter; such extreme heels being commonly known as spike heels. Because the wear is concentrated on this small area, the leather top lift Wears very rapidly and in order to prolong the wear of such a heel, it has become customary to employ a steel top lift. Since at each step the shoe heel momentarily bears almost the entire Weight of the wearer of the shoe, the resultant unit force with which such a metallic heel lift strikes the ground is extremely high. When shoes having such heels are worn with an overshoe, the area of the innersole of the overshoe, which is contacted by the steel heel lift, is worn very rapidly and soon actually penetrated. Moreover, if a shoe having such a heel be Worn in an overshoe designed to receive a wider heel, the heel of the shoe may slip sidewise during walking until it actually punctures the side wall of the overshoe. Because of this extremely rapid destruction of the overshoe as a useful article, wearers often believe that this is a result of faulty construction and call upon the manufacturers to make a refund, and this practice has become so general that companies making overshoes have suffered very substantial loss.

Much experiment has been carried out with the purpose of devising some Way of increasing the useful life of an overshoe when worn with shoes having French heels of the above type, but no prior successful solution of the problem has been adopted commercially. It should also be noted that whatever construction be adopted for the purpose of increasing the wear resistance of the overshoe, the upper surface of the heel portion of the sole of the overshoe must not be of a slippery character, which could result in lateral slippage of the foot and turning of the wearers ankle. Furthermore, to satisfy the requirements of the trade, the overshoe should be approximately conventional in flexibility and appearance.

It is, accordingly, the principal object of the present invention to provide an overshoe of novel construction which is capable of withstanding, without serious damage and for a'substantial period of time, the repeated blows to whichit is subjected when the overshoe is worn over a shoe whose heel has a metallic top lift of very small area. Further objects are to provide such an overshoe which is of substantially conventional appearance and which will also protect that portion of the upper adjacent to the heel from puncture if the wearers heel should turn.

Extended experiment has shown that greatly improved wear-resistance is obtained by arranging, within the outersole, a wear-resistant element of a mold-able material, such as hard rubber or hard plastic, which, in the completed overshoe, is set to a hard and tough consistency. Under some conditions it may be desirable to provide a hard, stifi, inflexible element, such as a steel plate,

between the above wear-resistant element and the outersole.

In order to protect the side wall of the heel of the overshoe from puncture, the wear-resistant element is desirably provided with upturned edges which extend upwardly along the overshoes side walls adjacent to the heel. This can be produced directly by molding, or by providing a blank of uncured sheet material, originally wider than the heel portion of the overshoe, the upturned sides being formed during assembly and cure of the overshoe. In case of ladies high-heeled overshoes, it has been found further desirable to provide a wear-resistant element having an upturned rear edge in addition to the upturned side edges, or even to make it cup-like.

It is also advantageous, in low heel overshoes, to locate the rear edge of the wear-resistant element ahead of the rear of the overshoe to permit the heel to flex as the wearer walks and to distribute the wear on the outer heel more evenly. A separation of approximately fiveeighths of an inch has been found desirable to permit such flexing while still insuring that the French heel will bear on the stiffened portion.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation illustarting an overshoe of a type in which the present invention may be incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a section, on a somewhat enlarged scale, taken on the line Z-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section to larger scale, more or less diagrammatically illustrating one desirable embodiment of the present invention as incorporated in an overshoe having a rubber outersole;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary diagrammatic side elevation of an inverted last of a type conventionally employed in the manufacture of rubber overshoes, but showing a slight modification useful in the process of manufacturing an overshoe in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary bottom view of the last shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the rear end of an inner sole of an overshoe made on the lasts of FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper being cut away;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating a slight modification;

FIG. 8 is a plan View of a metallic supporting plate which may be incorporated in the practice of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an end elevation of a wear-resistant element of a type which may be employed in the practice of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical section of the heel portion of a ladys high-heeled overshoe embodying a modification of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a plan View of a blank for subsequent shaping:1 and incorporation in the heel structure of FIG. 10; an

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another form of reinforce.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 3, the reinforced heel construction of the present invention comprises an outersole ll of rubber or the like, and a wear-resistant element .14. Optionally, a stifi, inflexible backing plate 12 of metal or the like can be disposed between the outsole 10 and wear-resistant element 14 to further increase the strength of the stifiened heel. As shown in FIG. 2, the Wear-resistant element 14 may be exposed at the inner surface of the heel, the exposed face thereof being provided with a non-slip surface of corrugations or the like. Preferably, however, the Wear-resistant element 14 is covered with an innersole material 16, for example, fabric, which is joined to r The wear-resistant element 14 comprises a hard, tough moldable material, such as hard rubber or plastic and has upturned side edges 14a, which extend upwardly along the edges of side wall 18, adjacent to the heel por tion of the overshoe As shown in FIGS, 2 and 6, the rear edge of the wear-resistant element 14 is spaced approximately five-eighths of an inch from the rear of the heel and extends approximately to the breast line of the heel, thereby permitting some flexibility in walking while assuring that the heel of the wearers shoe will bear on elements 12 and/ or 14. v p i In FIG. 3, the upturned side edges 14a of wear-plate 14 are of substantially uniform thickness and are provided with a slight depression 14b between the base portion of the wear-plate and the upturned edges 14a. Alternatively, and as shown in FIG. 7, the depression 14b may be eliminated and the upturned edges 14a tapered toward their upward end to blend smoothly with the upper 18. a

Metal plate 12, if used, shouldbe provided with a series of holes 20 through which the outsole material 10 protrudes during molding and vulcanization to .anchor the plate in place. Plate 12 is of lesser dimensions than the heel portion of the overshoe so that it will lie substantially fiat in the assembled heel.

As shown in FIG. 7, the assembled heel structure may include, between outsole material 10 and steel plate 12, a filler layer 22 of rag stock or reprocessed rubber such as is sometimes used in rubber overshoes to reduce costs,

While the. construction of the present invention can be provided on a last whereby the parts are assembled on the last in sequence and molded or vulcanized in place, it is preferable to use a last 24 (FIGS. 4 and having a cavity 26 cut in its heel portion to receive the wear-resistant element 14. Pins 28 can be provided for holding the wear-resistant element in place when it is in blank form beforemolding. Boots assembled on last 24 have wear-plates 14 (FIG. 6) slightly higher than the innersole material 16, providing raised boundaries 32 and Elements 14 can be premolded to shape, if desired, or can be provided in blank form in an uncured statefor molding and curing after assembly on the last. Where this latter procedure is followed and the wear-plate 14 consists of a hard rubber composition, the outersole and the plate, 14 will be integrallybonded during vulcanization under pressure. To. strengthen the bond the plate 14 may be provided with holes like those of plate 12, as shown in FIG. 8. I

A further modification, particularly adapted for ladies high-heeled overshoes is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11.

lustrated in FIG. 11, which is thereafter lasted to the figuration shown in FIG. 10. Obviously, the part 36 could be provided with a front wall, also, if desired, and the cup-like protector so designed, embedded in the un cured material of the heel of the overshoe and integrated with the latter during curing. Such a cup-like protector is shown at 14a (FIG. 12).

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 7

1. In a waterproof low-heel overshoe comprising an outer sole of elastomeric material, a heel reinforcement embedded in the outer sole, said reinforcement comprising a wear-resistant element of organic material, which when cured has substantially the hardness and toughness of hard rubber, said element having upstanding marginal flanges which extend up along the sidewalls of the heel portion of the overshoe to protect the heel and adjacent sidewalls from puncture, said' element being spaced approximately five-eighths inch from the rearward end and extending to approximately the breast-line of the heel to permit flexibility in walking, said element being devoid of front and back upstanding flanges.

2. A waterproof overshoe according to claim 1, Wherein the upper surface of said element has a non-skid surface.

3. In a waterproof low-heel overshoe having an outer sole of elastomeric material, a heel reinforcement comprising a wear-resistant element of organic material, which when cured has substantially the hardness and toughness of hard rubber, said element having upturned side edges extending along the Walls of the overshoe, but being otherwise substantially flat, said element being spaced approximately five-eighths inch from the rearward end and extending to approximately the breast-line of the heel, and, underlying said wear-resistant element, a substantially flat metal plate of smaller dimensions than the heel portion of the overshoe and of no greater dimensions than said element, said plate having apertures 7 through which portions of the outer sole material projects Wear-resistant element 36 is generally similar to the elemeat 14 andhas upstanding side walls 38 and 40, but extends to the rear edge of the heel and is advantageously. further provided with a rear upstanding edge 42 to protect the rear portion of the side walls of the heel from puncture. Element 36 can be made from a blank, as ilto anchor the plate in position.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,966,749 loewengart et al. Jan. 3, 1961 

